Fathers finally get equal access rights to children. So why now?

At last we are moving towards a better domestic world where fathers and mothers are equally supported by the state

The right of divorced fathers and mothers to see their children is to be enshrined in UK law for the first time as part of changes to family justice. Photograph: Alamy

The glaring injustice suffered by many children and (principally) their fathers when paternal relationships are destroyed without a murmur from the state has been obvious for decades to anyone who cared. Yet this seems an unlikely moment for the government to attempt to enshrine in law the rights of both fathers and mothers to see their children after separation. True, the fathers' rights movement has been vociferous at times, but latterly it has been relatively quiet and seemed politically marginalised. No apparent groundswell of pressure for change has come from the voluntary sector, rather the opposite – plenty of negative reaction from some children's charities and from Labour to the government's proposals. So why is this change happening now?

Perhaps, most simply, because it appears to be common sense to both Tory and Liberal Democrat ministers. Male Conservative MPs are typically highly privileged with a background in business and the professions. They are used to exerting control over their own lives and over others. They do not expect to find themselves on the wrong side of the law. So when they and their colleagues go through divorce, it is a shocking and unfamiliar experience for them to feel semi-criminalised as fathers and to be blocked from being with their children. Changing the law likewise seems to make sense to the straightforward values of gender equity held by Lib Dems. Like the Tories, they are led by a privileged public schoolboy, who can't understand why he can run the country but, if things got difficult with his wife, he might not be able to see his own children.

Behind the scenes, the fathers' rights movement, ranging from the highly visible Fathers4Justice to the more measured Families Need Fathers, which has campaigned for 30 years as a self-help group for separated fathers and built the arguments that have demonstrated the depth of the crisis, worked conscientiously on the Tories before the general election. It received a sympathetic hearing in numerous meetings with people such as the then shadow children's minister, Tim Loughton, who fashioned the party's children's and family policy in opposition.

In contrast, Labour has never got to grips with the tragedies of separated fatherhood. The party has been keen to support fathers' rights in the workplace, with enhanced paternity leave to level the gender playing field at work and enable dads to support mums getting back to work. But Labour's key concern in all of this was women and, as a result, it was not interested in championing fathers' rights in the home. So Labour was never going to take this step, certainly not while it was led by fathers with antiquated parenting styles such as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. In contrast to them, Cameron and Clegg, despite the workaholism of the political breed, look modern and engaged with parenting.

This is indeed a monumental moment. For decades, the state has rightly been tackling inequality in the workplace and patriarchal abuses in the family by confronting, for example, domestic violence and ensuring that mothers have sufficient income after divorce. But this is the first time the state has come forward to challenge matriarchy in the family and its abuses with respect to access to children. We are moving to a better domestic world where paternity, not patriarchy, is supported and, where maternity, not matriarchy, is equally supported.

I expect many worrying and apocalyptic warnings about the risks to children of this legislation. Amid the noise and resistance, we should remember gender equality is now one of the key values of the public working world. We should not tolerate anything less in the domestic, family arena.

• This article was amended on 14 June 2012. It originally referred to Families Need Fathers as Fathers Need Families. This has now been corrected

Please note your Name and Email address will not be used for any other purpose than recording your comments. Your Name and Email address will not be used for purposes of marketing or promotion in any way. All comments are approved before publishing.

Login

Why not try Cowcatcher? a Blog about the Sexes

Copyright

All articles accredited to the website Author 'The Radical' are subject to copyright and therefore if used externally from this website and in any medium, credit must be made to 'The Radical' and a link provided back to this website wapentake.org.uk. Any articles identified as 'External Source' and used externally from this website and in any medium must be accredited to the identified copyright owner stated at the end of the article.

Visitors Yearly to date

Stats on: 2020-06-01

Total visited pages: 2432

Total visitors: 2377

Average time: 00:01:48

Page per user: 1

Visitors counter

11.261

Realtime stats

Users on page:

Visitors:

Logged users:

Total users:

Thoughts of Time?

You may reflect on how the masses were subjugated by warrior bands and armies, how their leaders appointed themselves as kings and gave their friends positions of favour and authority.

How they are still subjugated today?

How many days a week do you work for the ‘state’ and how many for yourself?